The Red Line is a 12.8 mi (21 km) is a METRORaillight rail route operated by METRO in Houston, Texas. It is the oldest line in the METRORail system, and opened on January 1, 2004. Originally scheduled to open in 2014,[3] a northern extension to the line opened ahead of schedule on December 21, 2013.

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The Red Line runs through the heart of the historic North Side, a storied neighborhood rooted in rail that came into being with the expansion, in the 1880s, of the Hardy Rail Line. Starting at the Fannin South station, through the Texas Medical Center, Museum District, Midtown, and through Downtown onto the University of Houston – Downtown station. The line continues north on North Main to Boundary Street, crosses east to Fulton Street, and proceeds north on Fulton to the Northline Transit Center and Houston Community College, Northline Mall Center.[4] The length of line south of Hogan Street is located on an elevated structure. Currently older metro rails from the old Fannin South-UH Downtown line cannot reach the Red Line Extended portion of the line, and will always stop at Burnett.

Construction began July 2009, and was expected to continue until the line's opening in 2014,[5] though the opening date was later pushed back to 2015.[6] Because of better than expected construction progress, the line opened on December 21, 2013.[1]

On December 8, 2011, the FTA announced the award of a $450 million grant from the New Starts transit program to fund construction of the Red Line.[6]